"Important" vs. "Urgent"

This morning I was reading the AM news feed from Inman News.   Inman is the leading source of independent real estate news, information, advice, research, opinion and commentary for industry professionals and consumers alike.   
One of the articles profiled a presentation by Merlin Mann, who is a writer and web personality.  The title was "Inbox Zero" , which immediately caught my attention. 
He was discussing specifically how overwhelmed we get with email.  Not only how overwhelmed we get, but specifically how we focus our attention...is it on the stuff that matters? 

Nowadays, he said, the flow of messages can be overwhelming. And that holds true for real estate professionals, who can be in constant communication with clients and other business contacts via phone or e-mail.
"There is a huge disparity in the number of requests that you will receive for your time and attention today and the amount of time you have to respond to that. I believe more than ever in 2008 that you've got to have some kind of system," he said, to manage the in-box influx.
And it's important not to treat your e-mail as a "place to hang out," he said. "It's not like your local bar. It's a place to get into and out of as quickly as possible."  (I especially loved this line!)

It almost makes us long for the days our snail-mail box was stuffed.  At least with snail mail, each day there was a specific time of day it arrived, and once it arrived, it didn't keep coming.  There was a usual time of day we opened, discarded, kept or filed it away, usually after we arrived home from work.  After going through the exercise, we went about our business and didn't dwell on it, until the next day when we went through the same exercise.

Mann suggests five ways to process incoming e-mail: Delete, delegate, respond, defer or do.  I love it ... a plan of action.  That is something I can live with.

Interestingly, (or not, depending on how you view the plan of action the Universe puts out to us each day), a little later this morning, I received a blog notice (via email) that had been posted on the ACRE (Accredited Consultant in Real Estate) website.  You may know from reading past posts of mine that I have this accreditation. 
Anyway, that post came about due to someone missing an email about an important call she wanted to attend.  My friend (and ACRE founder) Mollie Wasserman gave some very thought-provoking words to ponder about the differences between what is "important" vs. what is "urgent". 
So many times, it's easy enough to get so caught up in what we view as "urgent" (i.e. what causes us to put out fires) and end up missing what is "important".  

I hope you end up having a fine day filled with "important" stuff!

Possibility of avoiding foreclosure

       I recently read an article in the Boston Business Journal about a foreclosure prevention workshop being held at Gillette Stadium on Tuesday August 12.   This workshop allows distressed homeowners concerned about foreclosure to meet with their lenders face-to-face and learn what they can do to avoid foreclosure, if possible.
This important event is being hosted by The New England Patriots Charitable Foundation and The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. 
     The Hope NOW Alliance and the NeighborWorks America are playing key organizing roles in the event.   The Hope NOW Alliance is an organization I have written about in a previous post.  They play a major role for homeowners in distress to help them stay in their homes and creates a unified,  coordinated plan to reach and help as many homeowners as possible.
     This event is so long overdue.  Why did it the credit crisis to build to such a magnitude until for this to come about?  I am talking to and reading about homeowners every day who pick up the phone to try to find from their lenders how they can possibly work something out until they get back on their feet.  Lenders are telling these people there is no alternative.  They will no accept partial payments.  One homeowner actually showed me the check and letter from the lender that accompanied it explaining that partial payment would not be considered, and oh, by the way, we will be working to foreclosure on your house.  I mean, come on ... Such short-sightedness.   Everybody loses. 
     So, I urge anyone reading this who may know of someone in trouble to spread the word about this informative, and hopefully helpful, event.  There are many reasons why people are unable to keep their home.  It is an embarrassing and humiliating experience for most to have to admit they are in trouble.  Some of us may know several people on the brink of financial disaster and not know it.  After all, it's not a great conversation starter!  
     If you are reading this and are one of the millions of Americans in this terrible situation, please ask for help.  It is now there in many forms with organizations initiating efforts to not only avoid foreclosure, but to help you keep your home.